Common Sense Media Review
This sci-fi shooter with loads of violent killing of aliens.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 16+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Play
Parent and Kid Reviews
Based on 28 parent reviews
Based on 126 kid reviews
Kids say this game is a classic and highly enjoyable, often highlighting its engaging story and memorable characters, especially the main protagonist. While most reviews mention that the violence and blood effects are not overly graphic, they emphasize the game's appeal for older kids, with many suggesting it is suitable for ages 10 and up, provided parents supervise younger players.
- engaging story
- suitable for teens
- mild violence
- iconic gameplay
- alien blood
- positive role model
Summarized with AI
Summarized with AI
What's It About?
HALO takes place in the future, where humans are fighting a losing battle against the technologically superior \"covenant,\" a group of alien beings driven by radical religious beliefs to destroy all humans. To make things worse, it appears they have found a new weapon of incredible power: \"HALO,\" a mysterious and massive ring/space station orbiting a foreign world. As the game progresses, the player discovers an enemy even worse than the covenant: It would seem that while the covenant was attempting to activate halo, they inadvertently released \"the flood,\" a vicious alien life form that survives by taking over the body of an organic host and then spreading to the next victim. Once released, \"the flood\" immediately begins possessing the covenant and humans alike, and the player realizes \"the flood\" must be stopped to prevent the destruction of the entire galaxy.
Is It Any Good?
As first-person-shooter games go, HALO was inventive for its time, and even now, it's a graphically appealing game. The game has an interesting and mysterious story, and allows the player to pilot and drive cool vehicles, and be immersed in a massive battle around a foreign planet. But the game has the same pitfall as many other first-person-shooter games: Ninety-five percent of the game is simply shooting things that get in your way.
The game tells a very dark tale, and most of the game consists of one continuous battle with plenty of blood, screams of agony and explosions. HALO is a first-person, shoot-everything-that-moves type of game. The action is infectious, and the story, while somewhat typical, is well-written and interesting. Plenty of bloodshed and a storyline that will most definitely scare younger players relegates this game to the 16+ crowd of gamers.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about why this game has become one of -- if not the most -- popular action game franchises of this generation. Is the sci-fi story so much better than other games? Does the level of violence make a game like this more immersive than its competitors? Is blood necessary in a 3-D shooter or is falling down enough to confirm the enemy is dead?
Game Details
- Platform : Windows
- Pricing structure :
- Available online? : Not available online
- Publisher : Microsoft
- Release date : May 30, 2003
- Genre : First-Person Shooter
- ESRB rating :
- Last updated : October 9, 2025
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